Not Enough Faith to be An Atheist

Week 2

Why does it matter what you believe?

Why is it important to be able to talk about what you believe when questioned?

Simply put, you can’t talk about what you don’t know.

You can’t believe what you’ve never tested.

I’d like us to take a minute before we launch into I don’t Have enough Faith to Be an Atheist and consider 9 verses from the Psalms.

Psalm 8:1–9 “1 Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens. 2 Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. 3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? 5 You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. 6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet: 7 all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, 8 the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. 9 Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”

As we examine this verse, I want to point out a literary structure here.

This is called a Chiasm in Scripture.

It’s where you have one central idea and then the surrounding text mirrors each other.

Verse 4-5 is the central theme.

Verse 1 and 9 go together. - How majestic is your name! You are above it all!

2 and 7/8 - Children, babies, animals, birds, fish, everything in all of creation is proclaiming the glory of God.

3 and 6 - God has created all things with his hands and he rules over it all. There is nothing that does not fall under God’s rule and reign.

Then verses 4 and 5… “Because you’re such a great God, over it all, what are we that you consider us? Why have you given us glory and honor?”

If we can pause for a moment and consider…

There is no other worldview, belief system, or religion that proclaims what the God of the Bible proclaims.

God is the greatest thing in existence. He is beyond creation because He created it all… Yet in his creation, he looks at us, calls us unique, made in His image… and He cares for us and meets our needs.

What is man that you care for them?

Are you kidding me?

God didn’t just make us and forget about us.

He cares for us. He cares for me

He cares for you.

When other religions and belief systems try to make you think God doesn’t exist… friends.

Do not forget Psalm 8.

God cares as much for those who love Him as He does for those who hate Him.

Everyone who has breath and lives on this side of eternity is considered by God.

Do you believe that today? I hope you do.

IDHEFTBAA

Law of Non-Contradiction - Helps us discover what is false. Opposite ideas cannot be true at the same time.

Example:

The Earth is flat

The earth is a sphere.

Which is true? For a time some thought the earth was flat. With modern technology we now know it’s a sphere.

There is no God

There is a God.

They both can’t be wrong and they both cannot be right. One has to be right and one has to be wrong.

They are both claiming different things.

3 MAJOR CATEGORIES FOR BELIEF

Theism: God made it all

What are theistic religions?

Pantheism: God is all

What are pantheistic religions?

Atheism: There is no God at all.

Agnosticism (We can’t know if there’s a god or not. Unsure about Him.)

5 Consequential questions in life:

Origin: Where did we come from?

Identity: Who are we?

Meaning: Why are we here?

Morality: How should we life?

Destiny: Where are we going?

Roadrunner Tactic: - Self-Defeating Statements:

This is an term that refers to an old cartoon called the Wile E. Coyote & the Road Runner.

The premise of the show was there was a Coyote who wanted to eat the Road Runner, but he never does. Every time he gets close, the Road Runner outsmarts him again and he loses.

Often, the Coyote would find himself running off the edge of a cliff. When he realized he no longer had any ground to stand on, he would fall in a crash to the ground far below.

This represents self-defeating statements, they have no ground to stand on.

For Example:

“I can’t speak of word of English.” - I just did… that sentence is self-defeating.

“There is no such thing as absolute truth.” - Are you sure that sentence is absolutely true?

“You get a knock at the door and you yell back ‘Nobody is home....” - Well you can’t say nobody is home from inside the house unless someone is home!

Can All Religions be true?

Some people say yes…

However, here’s the problem:

Atheists believe there is no God…

Theists (Muslims, Christians, Jews) believe there is one God.

Muslims don’t believe Jesus died on a cross.

The Christian faith hangs on that one fact alone!

Who’s right?

Almost all religions have some kind of moral code (ethics).

However, almost all of them disagree on the nature of God, nature of man, sin, salvation, heaven, hell, and creation!

Therefore, all religions can’t be the same if none of them agree!

And there is only one religion that says “Who is man that you care for Him?”

Thank you Jesus.

What are you resting in today?

Let’s split into small groups.